Conference discusses Russian elections

With the elections forthcoming, most experts agree that the presidential race is a foregone conclusion, with the incumbent winning a second term by a majority of 80 percent or more. \nThis is the political climate surrounding the March 14 Russian elections. \nThe Russian and East European Institute and the Political Science department held a conference discussing this year's Russian elections Saturday and Sunday in the Oak Room of the Indiana Memorial Union.\nThe event, titled "Kremlin Power and the 2003-2004 Russian Elections," was sponsored by the REEI, the Department of Political Science, the Office of International Programs, the College Arts and Humanities Institute and the Dean of the Faculties Multidisciplinary Ventures Fund.\nTwelve experts on Russian politics from around the world sat on the panel and presented their research on Russian elections. The topics of discussion ranged from Russian political parties, campaigns and voting to the political power of Russia's provinces and how democracy would fare under Russian President Vladimir Putin's second term.\nHenry Hale, assistant professor of political science, was the primary organizer of the event. He said the idea for the conference grew out of his "fascination with the transition of nations from authoritarianism to democracy." He said IU has a long tradition with Russian studies and the Political Science department has a reputation for being particularly strong in the study of democracy. Hale said it was for these reasons he thought it would be good for the University to hold an event such as this. \nDenise Gardiner, the assistant director of the REEI, said she thought the event was a great success.\n"We had almost 100 people sign up to attend it, which is more than for most other events like this," she said. \nHale said he, too, was impressed with the turnout, which he attributed to a "big interest in post-communist Russian politics at IU."\n"There are few similarities on the whole between Russian and American politics," Hale said. "Their political system is very different than ours."\nThis was underscored by a number of the panelists' presentations. Julie Corwin of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, pointed to an example of a local political race where a candidate simply could not damage the credibility of an opponent, so he got a friendly court to disqualify the opponent for giving out t-shirts at rallies under the pretext that he was giving bribes for votes. \n"A notable quality of local campaigns in Russia is that they are very competitive and very dirty," Corwin said.\nHale pointed out another stark difference, saying Russian media is "shamelessly biased" on the side of the president. \nBut, he said despite these differences, it is important to study Russian politics because "U.S.-Russian relations are very important." He also said the democratic state of Russia has a great impact on those relations. \n-- Contact staff writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.